Having his own house in his early 20s - or at least a "hut", as Julius says - is a dream come true. He converted an old truck trailer into a mobile tiny house entirely on his own. He now has 20 m² of living space, including a bed, over a length of 7.5 meters and a width of 2.5 meters.

Together with his friend Paul, Julius worked on his dream almost every day for almost a year. He put in around 2,000 working hours - more than the average working person in Germany does in a year. Julius earned the budget for this on the side with handyman jobs doing renovation and gardening work. He estimates that he invested 25,000 euros in addition to his own work on the car and materials. If he hadn't done so much himself, it would have been much more expensive.

Julius is actually a trained farmer. But he has always enjoyed tinkering and building, first working on a moped, then converting a bus. Bit by bit, he has taught himself so many things and learned more each time. The truck trailer is his biggest project to date.

Until now, Julius lived on his grandparents' farm, where he had the ideal conditions for his trailer construction project: a large hall, his own wood and metal workshop and, above all, plenty of building materials. Julius recycled old materials wherever possible to keep the conversion as cost-effective as possible. Metal, wood, windows - much of it was used and therefore cheap or even free. This meant that all the more time was spent preparing the material and the rusty metal parts. Before installation, it was therefore a case of grinding, sawing, welding and repainting. From 50-year-old beams from a hall, which Julius used to stabilize the chassis, to old water pipes, which he now uses as banisters, almost every piece of metal on the carriage was refurbished and reused.

The upcycling was also necessary, as his original budget of 6,000 euros was quickly exhausted when it became clear what condition the 47-year-old former showman's trailer was in. "We already knew that it was rusty and that we would have to do a lot, but we didn't expect it to be this much." But even though the two friends clearly misjudged the time and money involved, they pulled it off in the end. Friendly craftsmen and other farmers were always on hand to give them advice when they got stuck.

And so Julius can now look at his finished tiny house with pride. However, he is never really finished - Julius has too many ideas and too much fun building. However, as he no longer lives at home on his farm, access to materials and large tools has become difficult. "Life without a workshop is possible, but pointless," he jokes. That's why he misses it most in his new, minimalist home - even more than having his own bathroom. He didn't install one in his completely sealed truck trailer so that he wouldn't have a moisture problem later on. He shares a shower, toilet and washing machine with other people who, like him, live on the communal trailer site. That's okay with him, even if he would plan for it in the next building project.

But Julius doesn't want to live in a car for the rest of his life. He is now 22 years old, is just finishing his A-levels and wants to change direction afterwards, perhaps go to university. Until then, he earns his money with part-time jobs in the trades. His Tiny House on Wheels is perfect for this time when he is still trying to figure out where he wants to go and live. He has his own home, doesn't have to pay rent and isn't tied to one place.

A film by Rieke Spang (editor), Lars Reuther (camera), Paul Heydecke (camera / sound) and Barbara Brückner (editor).

00:00 Living in a truck trailer
01:59 Kitchen
03:34 Cellar box
05:12 Storage space
06:24 Work area
07:56 Electrical system
08:49 Sleeping area
10:08 Outdoor area